#polwechsel

[radiophd]

polwechsel -- grain bending #1

[radiophd]

polwechsel & klaus lang -- easter wings

[radiophd]

polwechsel -- adapt/oppose

[radiophd]

polwechsel -- core cut

[cdlistening]

Polwechsel & Klaus Lang, 'Unseen' CD (ezz-thetics)

Friday, September 3, 2021, 7:36pm (full listen)

Been a fan of this group for quite a few years now, and I always take pleasure in the highly impressive range they offer, a range that is admittedly not surprising given the high calibre of the group's membership, but nonetheless always humbling and fully engaging. This disc is fantastic, a trio of compositions that conjure a big ol' question mark in the "air" (as to exactly what is what as far as composing goes) and feature something that has become (thanks to movers like Aine O'Dwyer and Sarah Davachi) a rewarding facet of modern avant-composed music: the use of the church organ as an "avant-garde" instrument, or at least using it in a manner that does away with any notion of what one might normally associate with the words "church organ" (played here by KL). The thing is so utterly capable of such a huge and intense range of sounds (some of which I would never attribute to "church organ" without knowing it in advance) that the possibilities are endless, and coupled with the huge reverberant acoustics of the church and the amazing abilities of the Polwechsel group, we have a hell of a disc; further listening to come.

[dustedmagazine]

Polwechsel & Klaus Lang — Unseen (Ezz-thetics)

When Polwechsel first formed in 1993, bigness was not part of the agenda. The Viennese quartet, which originally comprised cellist Michael Moser, bassist Werner Dafeldecker, guitarist Burkhard Stangl and trombonist Radu Malfatti, united around a common interest in combining the sounds and organizational resources of contemporary improvised and composed musical approaches. But their first recordings and performances gained at least as much attention for their quietness as for their methods. They did not seem like likely candidates to one day make a record with a church organ on every track.

Some things change, and one of them is Polwechsel’s line-up. Currently Moser and Dafeldecker share the group with percussionists Burkhard Beins (who is German) and Martin Brandlmayr. Others persist; while quietness and compositional/improvisational hybrids are no longer so generally remarkable, they remain frequently accessed tools in the quartet’s collective kit. Another common strategy is collaboration. Unseen is the third Polwechsel album out of nine to have been made in partnership with another musician. Klaus Lang is an Austrian composer and concert organist who has previously performed with both Dafeldecker and Moser in non-Polwechsel settings. He plays on all three of Unseen’s tracks, and composed the first one.  

That piece, “Easter Wings,” shows instantly that Lang was the man for the job. Polwechsel’s music is not necessarily easy to play, but it does not foreground ostentatious technical display; it’s the music, not how they play their instruments, that matters. It’s not immediately obvious what you’re hearing at first, but whatever it is, it’s instantly compelling. High pitches arise, apparently in the distance, and then gather density and presence. At first it seems like one is hearing a flock of far-off train whistles speaking in bird’s tongues. Eventually these voices resolve into string harmonics, chimes and flute-like organ sounds. Lang never resorts to the heaviness that a church organ can so easily summon, but instead displays an unshowy mobility.  

His facility also figures on the second composition, where the two string players bow in rough, dissonant proximity while the organ alternately shadows them subliminally and more forcefully ends their phrases. Moser’s “No sai cora-m fui endormitz” translates from Catalan as “I don’t know how I feel asleep,” and the piece seems to proceed from one violently bowed awakening to the next, interspersed by quieter passages that correspond to the experience of unknowingly drifting towards unconsciousness. Dafeldecker’s “Redeem” is the only piece that exploits the church organs potential for heaviness. At first, sustained chords and low string drones exert a massive pressure. The sounds withdraw or thin out over the course of 25 minutes, shrinking until the string players alternate bowed swoops and silence falls.   

Bill Meyer

[willischwabe]

Klimakterium plus Wettstreit = Wahnsinn! IM Blödsinn und seine Stilblüten. Ein Satz! Kein "x"! Tsunamizeins mit Stil und Wahnsinn! "Wenn man konkrete Maßnahmen ergreift, die Einfluss auf das Leben von Menschen nehmen, deren Lebensqualität negativ beeinflussen und diese Maßnahmen damit begründet, dass man sich Auswirkungen von etwas, die man nicht kennt, ja vorstellen kann, wenngleich nicht sicher ist, ob die Vorstellung auch richtig ist, dann ist das Wahnsinn."

[willischwabe]

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